Excerpts from "What Schools Teach Us About Religious Life" by Dan Heischmann

“To be sure, there was a clear sense of youthful liveliness and energy to be found at New Horizon. The bold experiment it has embarked upon requires such youthful vibrancy in order to forge new trails in American Islam. It will not be long, I am confident in saying, until the path it has sought to travel will also provide future paths, future role models, of wisdom for its own community and perhaps beyond.”

New Horizon isn’t just an average Muslim school, it’s better than most schools. Academically, what can I say? A “Blue Ribbon School?” Achieving this award obviously speaks for itself. But this school doesn’t just prepare you for high school academically, but socially as well. Students can experience things like Big Rock Creek camp, or Channel Islands, things that students, in most public schools, aren’t fortunate enough to have and yet it prepares us for the future school environments. Events such as the eighth grade Washington D.C. trip allow us to associate and interact with non-Muslims and help us view different aspects of cultures and religions. Although many people would think that a small community such as this school will isolate kids from other students, personally it hasn’t prevented me from interacting in clubs and sports at my current school. New Horizon is a combination of academic excellence, Islamic morals, and always a whole bunch of fun!

2005 Graduate

Don’t think just because it’s an Islamic school, New Horizon lacks academic excellence. Because it’s the exact opposite. In fact, I think because New Horizon is an Islamic school, it values high standards of education, in perfect line with the Islamic emphasis on gaining knowledge. Let me tell you, it was challenging. From science fair projects and animal dissection, to book reports and essays, we learned everything. In reality, when I began high school, my honors classes were easy for me, unlike the others in my classes who found it quite difficult. From New Horizon, I was automatically entered into honors classes for my freshman year. Now, in my sophomore year, I’m in Advanced Placement (AP) classes, as many of my fellow New Horizon classmates are, and in honors. I’m on the yearbook staff, newspaper staff, and treasurer for our high school’s MSA.

New Horizon enables a student to achieve great potential. It transforms Muslim children into aware, active, prepared Muslim youth. Many Muslim adults worry over the question of our fate in America. We search for the answer to the question: How will we teach our children, our future Muslim Ummah? The answer lies in productive, challenging schools such as New Horizon, bringing about monumental change in the future of our Muslim youth.

2004 Graduate

New Horizon provided me with priceless knowledge, and through various opportunities at my school, I am now able to articulate and answer questions about Islam with ease and fluidity. With the education I received in my six years at New Horizon, I was able to create a positive image of Islam at my school. In addition, the saying that actions speak louder than words could not be truer. The easiest and most effective way I have shown people at my school what Islam is all about is through my actions. People admire and praise my hard work, personality, and demeanor. And it was New Horizon, and good parenting, that helped me build the courage and intellect to stick to my beliefs.

New Horizon has not only helped me with my activism, but also with my academics. Throughout my career at New Horizon, I hated the load of homework we used to receive. However once I entered high school, I began to immediately notice the impact the workload at New Horizon had on me. I was used to all the reading, all the math problems we had to do, and this repetition and experience helped me cope with the bus-loads of homework my high school piled on me. As a result, I was in the honor roll throughout my freshman year and on the dean’s list my sophomore year.

As a junior, I was named a CIF scholar athlete for my success in the classroom and on the field. I am not telling you this to brag about myself, but to show you the impact New Horizon has had on my academic life. And I would like to thank the faculty and administration for the all the support and education they have provided me.

2002 Graduate

At New Horizon, I’ve met teachers and friends who will forever stay in my mind and most definitely in my heart. NHS helped smooth my transition from a middle eastern country to America, and now it has prepared me to go out and achieve. And God willing, when I achieve, I will owe it to the guidance, teaching and preparation of NHS.

2004 Graduate

New Horizon was a second home to me from preschool to 8th grade, and even though I left it, my heart has not.

2001 Graduate

Spending the tender years of my life at New Horizon has enabled me to establish my dreams, set goals, and grasp Islam. Thanks to New Horizon, I have values that will guide me throughout my life.

2002 Graduate

My twelve years here at New Horizon were been great. All of the memories that I accumulated are wonderful. I can’t imagine having gone to a school other than NHS. It was, literally, my home away from home.”

2004 Graduate

My experience at New Horizon was amazing. I was taught a lot about Islam and its values. I will never forget the friends I met and the teachers I had. Aside from the prodigious amount of homework, my experience was great. The years I’ve had at New Horizon have really prepared me for high school. The wonderful memories that I’ve had will be something that I will cherish in the years to come.

2002 Graduate

For the Lion's share of people, it takes almost a lifetime to retrieve a golden opportunity. For me, time took me merely nine years to fortunately stumble upon the New Horizon School.
From the first moment we became acquainted to the aspiring last, we have continuously indulged in the convenience and loving warmth that this establishment has so carefully structured.
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks, sincerest gratitude and deepest appreciation for the most wonderful and worthwhile experience we had this year."

Parent of a graduate

My daughter enjoys New Horizon so much that she can’t wait to go to school each morning. It is comforting for me to know that she feels proud to be a Muslim and is developing friendships with other Muslim children who share our values. This is a gift from New Horizon to my family.

Parent of a preschooler

My vision for New Horizon is to produce a generation of Muslim Americans who have a strong Islamic identity and understand their role in society.

Islamic Studies Teacher

New Horizon is pioneering the quest for high academic standards as the first fully accredited Islamic school in America. The common threads that unite this diverse campus are academic excellence, virtue based on Islamic principles and responsible citizenship-both American and global.

Board Member

New Horizon provides an environment conducive for the upbringing of a Muslim American child. At New Horizon, our children will have the opportunity to not only learn Islam and Arabic, but to practice them as well.

Parent

The New Horizon School is the jewel of Islamic education and values in North America. Over the last decade, this pioneering effort has blossomed into four campuses in Southern California with almost one thousand students representing beacons of hope for academic excellence, high moral and ethical standards, and a promise of a bright future for American Muslims. I am proud to be part of this organization, and I am indebted to the visionaries in our community who planted the seeds for our future.

Board Member

The reason I love New Horizon School and all the students here is because they have given me an opportunity to participate in the development of the upcoming generation of American Muslims. While involved in this process of educating our children, I am constantly reminded of the following quote, which serves as reminder of what we are trying to achieve: "We need spirited, energetic and strong young people whose hearts are filled with life, enthusiasm, zeal and dynamism; whose souls are full of ambition, aspiration and vigor and have great goals, rising and aspiring to reach them until they eventually arrive at their destination."